Man charged with firing at police officer

A DeKalb man who Chicago police say fired a shot at a pursuing officer Sunday has been charged with attempted first-degree murder, authorities said today.

Willie E. White, 26, of the 700 block of Russell Road in the western Illinois community, also was charged with unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and aggravated assault.

About 10 a.m. Sunday, police said, officers responded to a call of a man with a gun in the Lawndale neighborhood and saw a suspect running through backyards.

In the 1500 block of South Ridgeway Avenue, the man fired one shot at a pursuing officer but missed, police said, adding that no shots were fired by police. Police found a gun in a rear yard in the 1500 block of South Lawndale Avenue, they said.

White learned police were looking for him and turned himself in the next day, police said.

He was sentenced to three years in prison in August 2002 on a narcotics conviction, said Police Officer Robert Perez.